Nicholas, 8, Michigan

Once there was a guinea pig named Gina.  She lived in New Guinea. She had a friend named Olaf. Olaf had a big, huge cage. If was filled with hay on the sides, little houses on the ground and a hammock to rest in.

Gina just had a little cage with just a little bit of hay and just one house to sleep in.

Then it was feeding time. Gina got a little bowl of lettuce and Olaf got a huge bowl of lettuce and some pellets. Gina wished that she had a really big cage like Olaf.

When Gina met with her other friends, Michael, Judy and George, she saw that they all lived together in a very small cage and had to share a very small bowl of lettuce.

Then Gina realized that she didn't have it all that bad. So she was very thankful for the cage that she lived in.

Denver, 8, New York

''Sure',' said Yaritas  ''But you have to meet LeiLani'' said Denver  ''OK'', said Yaritas.

So they went meat LeiLani and were friends for ever!

On a happy summer day, the cow named Michael saw the turkey named Charlie. Michael asked if he could play tag with them. The other turkeys said yes, but Charlie said no.

Michael walked away sadly. The next day Charlie's friends went on vacation and he went for a walk. Charlie saw Michael and the other cows playing tag.

Charlie said, "Can I play?" The cows said yes, but Michael said no. Charlie walked away sadly and learned a valuable lesson that day.

Shanna, 9, California

In the land of Rogtario, where all Animals live, was one Elephant who could talk any language, He was the only one who had this skill.

And, so he was very unkind to many other animals. But when the ruler of the kingdom found out that he was unkind, the ruler cast a spell on Elephant and he became just like all the other elephants.

Hope, 8, Pennsylvania

Once, on Mars, there was a Martian who wanted to go to earth. ...And so he did. But when he got here, no one wanted to be his friend. He wanted to leave, but he didn't know how.

So he had no choice but stay. He was very unhappy until he met a friend named Michael.

After a while he started to act like a human. He learned how to talk and lots of other things.

Soon he was very happy.

Daria, 12, Texas

On a hot, sunny day the Rabbit was walking through the forest. The Rabbit was unhappy because nobody wanted to play with him. He saw the Owl sleeping on a tree and he was so excited that he woke the Owl up: "Hey, what’s your name?"

The Owl opened her eyes and said: "Come back in the nighttime. I will tell you." She flew away and Rabbit was still standing under the tree. "It would be great if we become friends!", Rabbit thought.

On that night the Rabbit was sitting under the tree. He was waiting for the Owl. It was too dark so he couldn’t see how the Owl landed on the branch of the tree, but he could hear it. The Rabbit asked again: "What is your name?!!" He would soon wish that he hadn't spoken to that animal.

The Owl left the branch and flew to Rabbit. She used her claws to grab him and flew away farther and farther in the forest.

Kaitlyn, 13, Montana

It was a lovely June morning and Rudy the Raccoon was down by the spring catching his morning breakfast.  As he sat there looking at his reflection and enjoying his scrumptious meal in the glistening sunlight, he noticed that Paddy Porcupine had came and sat along side of him.

"What’s Up?" Paddy said in her spunky voice.  "Enjoying that snack of yours there?"

"Hey Paddy, you know those salmon sure are good, but then again very hard to catch!" Rudy replied.

"Yep, I can believe that," Paddy said.  "Rudy, would you like to come over today?  We can hang around my tree, play some games, and just mess around."

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Rudy exclaimed.  Rudy always liked going over to Paddy’s house, because her tree was so big and she had all kinds of cool things.

Rudy stuffed the rest of his fish in his mouth and walked with Paddy down the long winding trail until they came to Paddy’s house.  Paddy’s house was so big and from the very top of the tree was a great big red slide that twisted and turned around the huge trunk.  Rudy was always so jealous of Paddy.  Rudy’s house was just an old pine tree that had a lot of annoying chirping birds that woke him up every morning.  Rudy always thought that he had it rough, but compared to some of the other animals that lived in the forest, his house and what he had were pretty nice.  Some of the other animals would love to have what he had.

"Rudy, do you want to go on a walk down to the valley where we can eat some lunch?" Paddy asked.

"Sounds great, and plus I am getting hungry again anyway!" Rudy chuckled.  As Paddy and Rudy strolled through the forest, Rudy seemed to notice Rachel Rabbit’s house and Danny Deer’s house.  They weren’t extravagant; they were normal houses just like Rudy’s.  But as Rudy and Paddy kept walking Rudy noticed a new animal in the forest.  A small little squirrel timidly seemed to be looking for a house that he could live in.

As Rudy watched the little squirrel he though about how he had been so selfish and jealous about little things such as how nice or how big his house was.  Rudy stopped and told himself… I should be happy that I have a roof over my head and someplace to sleep at night.  Oh, and also a great friend like Paddy!

SCENE ONE

Narrator: Once upon a time, in the deep, deep, rainforest there was a cheetah named Albert. Albert always liked to win and never liked to lose. This is a special rainforest where there are red trees with blue leaves, and purple vines. Below the trees the ground is full of colorful flowers. The sky is yellow and the clouds are pink.

The story begins with Timmy the Monkey telling all the Cats, including, Albert the Cheetah, Drew the Lion, and Speedy the Leopard about the big race that would happen at midnight that Sunday. Timmy the Monkey is the judge for all the races, and Dan the Toucan, is his assistant judge and the official starter for all the races.

Timmy: Hi there everyone!

Albert: Hey, Hey, Hey!

Speedy: What’s up!

Drew: What are y’all doin’?

Timmy: You are invited to a race everyone, OK? It will be this Sunday at midnight.

Albert: I know that all of you are going to lose, because I am the fastest cat.

Speedy: Let’s go train. Maybe if we train hard enough, one of us, besides Albert will win.

Drew: You got that right. We need to train hard to beat Albert.

Narrator: So when all the cats heard the news about the race from Timmy they went off to go train. Drew went off to eat some meat, to begin his pre-race diet, and Speedy went to a place where there is lots of open space so that he can begin to train. Albert is spying on Speedy in the background.

SCENE TWO

Albert: (TO HIMSELF). Man, they are training so hard, especially Speedy. What do I do?

Speedy: (WHILE RUNNING) I have to work so that I can beat Albert.

Drew: Man, I am afraid of Albert because he is so fast, and Speedy is working so hard.

Albert: (TO HIMSELF) Aha, I got it! I need to make traps so I can win because they are working so hard, or else I will lose.

Narrator: That night Albert set up traps while everyone was sleeping.

SCENE THREE

Narrator: At 6 o’clock it was beginning to get dark. Albert goes out while everyone is sleeping, to set up a trap. He sets up the trap right before the quicksand.

Albert: (TO HIMSELF) This is hard work trying to set up this trap. I know this is the wrong thing to do. But I have to make sure that I win the race.

Narrator: Albert realizes he has done something wrong, and that he has  pushed his eagerness to win to the limit. However, it is too late now. (TO THE AUDIENCE) I hope all of you realize that he has done something wrong?

SCENE FOUR

Narrator: So the next day, Albert, Speedy, Drew the Lion, Timmy the Monkey and Dan the Toucan met up at the starting line of the race.  All the cats were stretching and getting ready for the start of the race. The race course goes through the rainforest and has many obstacles, including a river that they must jump over that is full of deadly piranhas, a large hill they must climb, and most difficult of all, a patch of quicksand that they must swing over using the purple vines of the red trees.

Speedy: (WHILE STRETCHING) Wow, what a nice day to race! Drew, you look pumped up and ready to race.

Albert: Oh, my God, I can beat you both, any time, anywhere.

Speedy: Well, let the best cat win.

Timmy: Let’s get everyone together so that we can start the race!

Narrator: Albert is sweating and becoming nervous right before the race starts.

Dan: It is such a nice night out for a race (to Timmy)

Timmy: You got that right---I just hope we have a fair race.

Albert: Ha! You think you all can beat me! (to all the other competitors). I’ll leave dust in your face…(cut off by Timmy the Monkey)

Timmy: (Speaking loudly to all the other cats) RACERS ARE YOU READY FOR THE 1ST ANNUAL MIDNIGHT CAT RACE EVER TO TAKE PLACE!

Dan: Red light, Green Light, GOOOOO!!! (His beak changes colors)

Timmy: And the cats are off racing!

Narrator: As the race starts, it looks like Albert is pulling away from the other cats.

Albert: Every cat for himself. I can’t wait to get my medal.

Narrator: As Albert was running, he turned around and started making faces at the other cats. While he was doing this, he tripped over and fell into his own trap. Albert felt ashamed and started to roar. Speedy raced past him.

Albert: Man, I can’t believe Speedy just got ahead of me, and I got stuck in my own trap.

Speedy: I can’t believe I am passing Albert, I might have a chance to win.

SCENE FIVE

Narrator: Speedy finished the race in first. Everyone cheered for him when he crossed the finish line.

Speedy: Wow, I won! I can’t believe I beat Albert in the race. All the hard work and training really paid off.

Narrator: After the celebration for Speedy’s victory, everyone went to help Albert out of the quicksand.

Drew: I didn’t even know there was that much quicksand.

Albert: Actually I dug the quicksand last night, to make sure I would win because I saw the two of you working so hard.

Timmy: Congratulations, Speedy! Albert I have to disqualify you for the next race. The next time you should think about playing fairly.

Albert: I’m sorry everyone for cheating and trying to make you lose. Congratulations Speedy, you earned it with your hard work. I didn’t deserve to win today (HE SHAKES SPEEDY’S HAND)

Timmy: So the lesson for the day is: you shouldn’t cheat because it will not win you anything—only hard work will. Winning is not the most important thing in life. It is more important that you play by the rules.

Albert: I certainly learned my lesson today.

THE END

One day, Cat decided to go for a walk and she met up with Chicken.  She said, "Good morning, Chicken.  Nice weather.  Do you want to come with me to the diner?"  "Oh, yes!," said Chicken and they started off to the diner.  When they got there, Cat said she wanted a sandwich.  Then Chicken said, "Well but you should have what I always have... ice cream!"  Cat questioned him for a while, but then Chicken said, "If you want to be cool, you will eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day."

The only thing Cat wanted was to be cool, so right when she woke up the next morning, she started eating.  When she ran out of ice cream she kept buying more, and more, until all of her money was gone.  She got so sick that she had to go to the hospital.  When she got out the bill was $200.00!  That was the rest of the money she had and now she was poor.

She decided to go over to Chicken's house to tell Chicken what he had done to her.  When she got there, she knocked on Chicken's door, and Chicken answered.  Cat said, "All that ice cream you made me eat, made me poor, and sick enough that I had to go to the hospital!"  Chicken said, "I didn't make you do anything, and I didn't make you poor." "And that didn't make me cool at all!" said Cat. "And you lied to me!" Chicken said, "I didn't promise you anything!"

And from that day on, Cat didn't believe anything from Chicken.